Netanyahu Maintains Israel Will Control Gaza Security Despite Ceasefire Agreement

The Gaza truce, brokered by US President Donald Trump, came into effect on October 10, yet Israel has maintained its stance on controlling security within Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly stated to his cabinet that Israel will independently determine when and where to engage adversaries, as well as which nations would be permitted to contribute troops to enforce the ceasefire.

"Israel is an independent state. We will defend ourselves by our own means and we will continue to determine our fate," Netanyahu declared. "We do not seek anyone's approval for this. We control our security."

AFP footage documented an Egyptian convoy entering Gaza with rescue personnel and heavy machinery to accelerate the search for remains of Israeli hostages that Hamas claims are lost in the rubble of the devastated territory.

Low-loader trucks displaying Egyptian flags transported bulldozers and excavators into Gaza, accompanied by tipper trucks signaling with horns and flashing lights, heading toward an Egyptian aid committee based in Al-Zawayda.

Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian confirmed that Netanyahu personally authorized the Egyptian team's arrival.

"Now, this is a technical team only, and none of these personnel are in the military," she explained. "The team are allowed entry beyond the IDF's Yellow Line position into Gaza territory to conduct the search for our hostages."

According to the US-brokered ceasefire terms, as Israeli forces withdraw after two years of intense conflict against Hamas, an international force—anticipated to consist mainly of Arab or Muslim nations—is expected to secure Gaza.

However, Israel opposes any involvement from its regional rival Turkey. Netanyahu, facing criticism from hardliners within his coalition for agreeing to the ceasefire, adopted a firm position during Sunday's ministerial meeting in Jerusalem.

"We made clear with respect to international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us," he stated, just one day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio concluded the latest in a series of high-level visits by Washington officials.

Later, Bedrosian stated more directly: "The prime minister has said it's going to be done the easy way or the hard way, and Israel will have overall security control of the Gaza Strip."

"Gaza will be demilitarised and Hamas will have no part in governing the Palestinian people."

Aid organizations report that humanitarian convoys still lack sufficient access to Gaza to alleviate famine conditions in parts of the territory, leaving many families without adequate food.

AFP journalists followed 62-year-old grandmother Hiam Muqdad's family for a day in their Gaza City neighborhood, where they reside in a tent beside their destroyed home. Her barefoot grandchildren gather waste materials and twigs to burn for heating water.

"When they said there was a truce, oh my God, a tear of joy and a tear of sadness fell from my eye," Muqdad told AFP. "The child's dream is gone. In the past they used to go to the park but today children play on the rubble."

While Israel has withdrawn its forces within Gaza to the designated "Yellow Line," it maintains control over more than half the territory, approves every UN aid convoy crossing its borders, and has conducted at least two strikes since the ceasefire began.

Emphasizing Israel's independent action capability, Netanyahu mentioned that his forces had bombarded Gaza with 150 tonnes of munitions on October 19 following the deaths of two Israeli soldiers, and had conducted a strike on Saturday targeting an Islamic Jihad militant.

The United States and allies have established a truce monitoring center in southern Israel—the Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC)—and dispatched numerous high-ranking officials from President Donald Trump's administration to support the ceasefire.

The most recent Israeli strike occurred just as Rubio was departing Jerusalem, yet Washington's top diplomat expressed optimism that the ceasefire would generally hold if Hamas agrees to disarm and surrender governance of Gaza.

Rubio informed reporters that Washington did not expect the Yellow Line to become Gaza's new border and that Israel would eventually withdraw further.

"I think, ultimately, the point of the stabilisation force is to move that line until it covers hopefully all of Gaza, meaning all of Gaza will be demilitarised," Rubio stated to reporters aboard his flight to Qatar.

The principal Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have agreed to form a committee of technocrats to administer Gaza alongside the ceasefire and reconstruction efforts.

Nevertheless, Hamas has resisted demands for immediate disarmament and has initiated a crackdown on rival Palestinian groups and armed factions in Gaza.

In a Sunday statement, Hamas's lead negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya asserted that the militant group's weapons are "linked to the presence of the occupation and aggression".

He added: "If the occupation ends, these weapons will be transferred to the state."

Hamas has affirmed its commitment to returning the remaining 13 hostage bodies.

These include 10 Israelis abducted during the group's attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the conflict, one Israeli missing since 2014, and Thai and Tanzanian workers.

Hamas has already returned the remaining 20 living hostages and 15 bodies of hostages.

However, Hamas warns of difficulties in locating the remaining bodies within Gaza's ruins, where over 68,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.

Bedrosian dismissed these claims, telling reporters: "Hamas knows where our hostages are," adding that the group needed to increase efforts to recover the bodies.